'Pop-up cafés' expand outdoor dining options in Cambridge

By Sara Feijosfeijo@wickedlocal.com

Thursday

Jun 19, 2014 at 9:18 AMJun 19, 2014 at 9:18 AM

Parking spots have always been reserved for cars and motorcycles, but that’s no longer the case in Cambridge. The city is now leasing them to restaurants for pop-up cafes.Tasty Burger in Harvard Square was the first to apply for the permit. By the end of the week, the parking spot directly in front of the restaurant on Mt. Auburn Street will officially be a pop-up café."It’s a cool idea," David Dubois, owner of Tasty Burger, said Monday, June 16. "It’s a really interesting way to put some architecture out there that activates what would just be parking areas."The pilot program has been in the works since February 2012 when the Department of Public Works (DPW) decided to look into the possibility of building temporary wooden decks similar to the ones in New York City and San Francisco."The pop-up cafes work in places where the sidewalks don’t facilitate outdoor dining," said Katherine Watkins, city engineer for DPW. "It enables us to expand the outdoor program. We’re really excited to see this one go in."The goal, Watkins said, is to create a vibrant street atmosphere and support local businesses.Dubois decided to apply for the pop-up café permit because the establishment does not qualify for outdoor dining, as its sidewalk isn’t large enough, Dubois said."It’s a way to activate pedestrian flow in areas that don’t have the opportunity to have a lot of outdoor sitting," Dubois said.He said he doesn’t expect an uptick in clientele, but he thinks the pop-up café will highlight the area and the restaurant."It will help activate Mt. Auburn Street in a cool way and draw attention to Tasty Burger," Dubois said. "I think it will be a nice looking and comfortable place to sit and it shows the innovation of the city of Cambridge."As of Monday, Tasty Burger was the sole establishment to apply for the permit, which requires approval from City Council, the License Commission and the Department of Public Works, Watkins said.Unlike outdoor dining, food is not sold in the pop-up café. Folks have to order food inside and then bring it outside.According to Iram Farooq, acting deputy director for the Community Development Department, pop-up cafes must be placed in locations where there is plenty of parking and they must be adjacent to the permitted business."You want it to be a safe spot if people are going to be sitting there," Farooq said. "It’s similar to a permit for sidewalk dining."For more information, call DPW at 617-349-4800.